Probably the most anticipated event in 2016 approaches with viewership that could top even the Super Bowl. In its own way, it is its own Super Bowl of sorts. On Sept. 26, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton will debate Republican nominee Donald Trump at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
Unlike the Super Bowl aired on a single network, the first 2016 presidential debate will be televised by all four major networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC) as well as CSPAN and all of the major cable news organizations including Fox News Channel, CNN, and MSNBC. Every major print media organization in the world will be covering it.
Of course, there is the obvious. It is the first debate among the candidates for the most powerful position in the world — the president of the United States of America. Nothing more need be said to garner the interest of virtually everyone on the planet who knows anything about how the world works.
But, this debate involves so much more. Past presidential debates have confirmed just how important presidential debates can be. Everyone remembers one of those defining moments. President Ronald Reagan’s response to Vice President Walter Mondale’s questions about his age is one. And, who can forget President George H. W. Bush looking at his watch in his debate with President Bill Clinton.
More often than not, presidential debates are known more for notable gaffes than significant public policy revelations. When President Gerald Ford misspoke and failed to recognize that Poland was a part of the Soviet Union’s Eastern block, everyone noticed. Now, with the benefit of technology, every statement in every debate is subject to instant fact checking with even the slightest mistake pasted all over social media the moment it happens.
In recent years, even the moderators have joined the fray. Even now, political insiders talk about Candy Crowley’s mistaken intervention in the debate between President
Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney. Lester Holt, an NBC anchor, will moderate the first debate. The format lends itself to a lot of influence by the moderator.
The moderator will select the “major topics” for each of six time segments of 15 minutes each. To be fair, the topics will be disclosed one week before the debate. But the moderator gets to craft the question to begin each segment with each candidate having two minutes to respond.
From there, the moderator facilitates a “deeper discussion” into each topic. Given the candidates, it should not take much to trigger lengthy dialogues between them. For the candidates and viewers, the less said by the moderator the better during the 11-minute deeper discussion.
But it is not the format or the moderator or even the significance of the debate that prompts such interest throughout the world. It is the candidates and their proven abilities to make mistakes, prompt controversies, and otherwise entertain. Like a NASCAR race, it is the crashes that debate watchers will watch to see — not some in-depth discussion of the details of how the federal budget works.
Of course, there are a number of lingering questions about the candidates that will also lure viewers to watch. After her recent collapse, voters will be eager to see if former Secretary of State Clinton is healthy enough to be president. After all, Donald Trump has delivered a steady drumbeat challenging her stamina, and her recent bout with pneumonia has only fed the issue.
The debate itself is 90 minutes long, running from 9 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. without commercial interruption. Ninety minutes under the lights without breaks with continuous questions can challenge even the fittest candidates. Add to it the pressure of performance and any weaknesses in stamina become obvious.
For Donald Trump, the focus will be on his temperament. During the primary debates, he was apt to let loose on his opponents, often in ways that many found objectionable.
In recent weeks (sometimes with the aid of a teleprompter), he has demonstrated a better ability to stay on message. But, on this stage, there will be no teleprompters and the lengthy facilitated deeper discussions lend themselves to tirades.
No matter what they tell voters, political insiders on both sides will be holding their collective breaths during the debate. Capable surrogates with their prepared spins will stand ready to cover for candidate mishaps during the debate. Yet, in the end, American voters will decide for themselves who they believe can best lead the country.
This debate will be followed by two more, giving the candidates a chance to recover. In addition, there will be a debate between Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim
Kaine and Republican Vice Presidential nominee Mike Pence. So, there is more to come.
But there is only one first debate and it is upon us!
